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Old Speck Maine - July 19, 2008 (pics)

Date(s) Hiked: July 19, 2008

Trails(s) Hiked: AT > Eyebrow > AT going up. AT going down.

Total Distance: ~8 miles

Difficulty: Moderate +

Conditions: Pretty wet

Special Required Equipment: None

Trip Report: We are getting ready to try Katahdin next weekend, so we warmed up with a trip up Old Speck in Grafton Notch State Park. Pretty warm, hazy and humid day with temps in the upper 70's on the mountain.

Went up the Eyebrow trail going up. This is a lot of fun and worth the few extra tenths. There are cables and ladder rungs to assist going up some rock faces in steep sections (see pics below) that could be very slippery when wet. It wasn't too wet going up, but one would have to be careful if it was raining or if the streams were higher. Pretty strenuous climbing right out of the notch. You get some nice views of Grafton Notch from the top of the Eyebrow.

Once off the Eyebrow and back on the AT its moderate climbing over a couple of 'humps' as we called them. There are some views going up and other trip reports I read said you get to see 'how much farther you actually have to go' which is true. Finally we get to the last moderate + climb to the top and take the short .3 mile spur to the top.

Top has a newer observation tower. Its about 25 feet. While the tower is solid, I am not so great at heights... so I really didn't enjoy the view that much and got down pretty quickly. There is a small clear cut to get views from the ground as well. While the clear cut is kind of ugly... its nice to have the view regardless. It was very hazy so we were not able to see much clearly. Nice breeze anyway.

Going down we got in a 10 minute downpour which made the trail more wet and slippery. The we took the AT all the way down and the last mile was pretty tough. We were tired, plus this is a pretty steep section on wet rocks and roots. But we made it fine.

About 3.5 hours up and 3.5 hours down. 12 year old and 10 year old and the old man. Awesome job by the boys. We are ready to try Maine's highest peak!